5 Battles of Love and 1 Victory of War
by Zee-Zee Magee
Summary: Nate and Sophie have spent forever battling each other in one way or another. Will they finally figure things out? After all love isn't a battlefield, it's war!


**A/N:** _Okay I'm in desperate need of a new topic. Oh wait, I have a new topic I just have to finish other projects first. Alright, I need a Hardison/Parker prompt because I'm kind of sick of writing about Nate/Sophie. Actually, I would much rather read some Nate/Sophie fics instead of writing them. Ooh, Can I please have a fic where Damien Moreau seeks vengeance on Nate by going after Sophie. Need inspiration for that? Read my prompt fic revenge and review if you're interested. Thanks! Enjoy!_

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1. Cop and Robber

"Ford!"

"Devereaux!"

They were in Paris. Why were they always in Paris? No matter where she stole a painting and no matter how long it took him to track her down they always ended up in Paris, except when they didn't. It was incredibly frustrating.

"We meet again, Nate."

"I see that."

"In Paris…"

"I see that too."

He was holding her hostage via a gun. It was the one the French police would let him have. The last time he cornered Sophie in Paris she shot at him so he figured he would be prepared. It was a good thing too because she shot at him again. Only this time she actually got him and he in return shot her.

Sophie groaned at the pressure in her back. At least, that was what Nate assumed was what she was groaning at. She was still a little hard to figure out. "You ruined my new jacket, you wanker!"

"You ruined my shoulder!" Nate fired back. It was cheesy and the whole situation seemed a bit cliché but that wasn't exactly unexpected. Every time they met the situation always seemed cliché. Come on! What kind of grifter actually takes the time to tease the insurance investigator chasing after her? It was like the real life Thomas Crown affair only without the kissing and the sex and the whole sexual tension thing.

Sophie twirled around and began to work on removing the painting from its frame again. It was as if he wasn't even there.

"You're still trying to steal the painting?" Nate questioned the sanity of the person in front of her. Was he just supposed to pretend he wasn't witnessing a crime? He wasn't exactly invisible or anything.

"Well, I figured that if I was going to be arrested I might as well have something to show for it!" Sophie sassed back. Her face was getting extremely pale but other than that she didn't even look like she had been shot. If it wasn't for the big splash of blood pooling from the back of her right shoulder, you'd actually believe it. "Ooh, why'd you have to shoot me?"

This was surreal. Who actually had a conversation while writhing in pain from a bullet wound that hurt like a "you know what"? They needed to get out of there too. Somebody was bound to report the gunshots and there was a lot of paperwork to fill out if she actually died. Of course, they would have a lot of storage sheds to rummage through to. Anyway, back on task.

"You're under arrest," he said, "and I did say freeze."

"You'll have to catch me first," Sophie responded back. She straightened her back and didn't even release a groan of pain. Was this woman even human? Seriously who does that?

"How are you going to run away when I shot you?" Nate demanded of his prey in confusion. Was she really stupid enough to think she still had an exit? There was never an exit when you were shot. The only exit that had ever appeared when you were shot was Death and that didn't seem to be coming after her.

"Watch me," she commanded bitterly. Then she was gone, thankfully without the painting, but she was gone. He just saved his company millions of dollars and the thief still got away. Wait, he shot her. He knew he did because he saw the blood and her total lack of pigmentation in the face. Oh no!

Nate raced out the door he was certain she had left through. He quickly raced towards the fire escape he didn't he know was there and quickly jumped on it. Sure enough, there she was panting and fighting to stay awake. She was glaring at him with pain-filled eyes and if she could actually do anything more than breathe she would have been saying a lot of nasty things. Probably in fluent French too.

Nate couldn't exactly help the smug grin on his face. "I told you so."

His reply was a quick slap in the face.

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2. Tell the Truth

"You're drinking again."

Nate turned around and stared at the six television screens with a mild feeling of horror in the pit of his stomach. They had just successfully completed and bottle job and wire in no time flat. Of course, the only reason they probably succeeded was because he decided to have a drink… or five. There could only be one reason Sophie Devereaux would start with that as her greeting. Tara probably told on him. Or Eliot. No, definitely Eliot. Of course, Hardison and Parker couldn't exactly keep their mouths shut…

"What were you thinking?" Sophie screamed at him. Her eyes were narrowed to snake-like slits and her voice was very low. She was very mad. "Do you have any idea what could have happened if you…?"

"Nobody got hurt!" Nate used the only excuse he had. It was safer than the alternative. Of course, even when he was wrong he couldn't back down from a fight. Especially with Sophie Devereaux. "I just had a few rounds."

"Oh because eight shots of whiskey and a couple of glasses full after the con is only a few rounds?" Sophie's voice was absolutely dripping with sarcasm. He was pretty sure that if they were in the same room he's be getting a slap in the face right about now. "What's next a bottle of bourbon? Or is Parker wrong in telling me that she saw you leaving the bar with a few souvenirs?"

There was the slap. "So it was Parker," Nate smirked at the knowledge. Now he knew who to seek vengeance upon.

"It was all of them Nate!" Sophie shouted at him. Her mouth was in the formation of a very good snarl and there was no changing that look for a while. Yeah, he was in major trouble. It had been a tag team operation. "Eliot called me as soon as the job was done to inform me that you were drinking again and making his job just that much harder! Hardison called me immediately afterward to inform me how many glasses and why you did it! Parker then informed me on our hacker's phone by the way that you were storing liquor for later and then she asked me when I was coming home to fix it! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"I saved the con!" Nate shouted back. He wasn't about to take this lying down even if it was Sophie who was in the right. "Doyle would have backed out if I didn't have a drink! What was I supposed to do; let him get away with Cora's money and the bar?"

"You could have faked it," Sophie fired back with rapid-fire intelligence. "Or better yet, you could have had Tara play interference! That's what she's there for!"

"No, she's here because you left us to go explore the world and find yourself! How is that going by the way? Have you found a new team to leave behind?" Nate stared at the screens in shock of what he just said. He totally had no intention of letting that slip. He had just crossed the line. He could tell simply by the way Sophie was staring at him. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were extremely bright. Nate could have sworn he saw tears sparkling in them. Oh no! "Sophie, I…"

"I didn't leave them," Sophie bit back. There was danger glinting in her eyes but none of her grifter training could cover the hurt so clearly written on her features. Nate could practically feel her control trying to force everything away. It was the second time in their relationship that he had easily cut her to the quick only this time he saw more. Now she was going to aim for the kill. "I only left you."

"Don't go," Nate begged. Sophie's hand had started going towards the screen, but thankfully stopped at his words. She was at least waiting for an apology. She at least deserved one.

"What do you want, Nate?" Sophie hissed towards him. She looked so small despite the fact that her beautiful image was taking up six screens. It was the most open he had ever seen her. It was disconcerting and wonderful all rolled into one.

"Come back," Nate pleaded slowly. The words felt like mush on his tongue and he was sick of this fight. He just wanted it to be over. He was sick of chasing. He actually wanted to see what it felt like to actually capture for once. "We… we need you."

Sophie tisked in frustration of the simple sentence. She was shaking from the force of it. "I can't. Not yet. I need more time…"

"You have time," Nate interrupted her with everything he had. Something was pushing him to talk to her. Something told him she wanted to be home just as much as everybody else wanted her with them too. He only needed to speak up and he was going to do that. "But you… I… you need to come home. We need you to come home, Sophie."

"Would you even be saying this if you were sober?" Sophie's tone was put out now. She sounded so tired. It was painful to his ears to hear that in her musical tone, but she had a point. Would he have said anything even remotely close to that if he were sober? The answer was no. He was a coward and they both knew it. He couldn't give her the answer she was looking for and she wouldn't push him to get it. She only knew how to run and he only knew how to chase. There was no middle ground with them. Not while she was still a thief and he was still an honest man. Sadly, that little fact sounded like the answer to everything. They both needed to change in order to get where they were heading. Neither one of them were very willing to do that.

Nate opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to tell her what she needed to hear. He wanted to tell her that running wasn't the answer. He wanted to tell her that what she needed wasn't anywhere in the world, it was with the team. It was with their team. But he wouldn't. And they both knew it.

Sophie stared at him with sadness in her big brown eyes. She sighed a long breath and shook her head. She was surprised that after all of these years she still expected him to answer her honestly. He could always read her like a book. He wondered if he always would.

"That's what I thought," she said. Then the screens went black. She was gone and the war stretched on.

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3. Girlfriend and Boyfriend?

"Sophie!" Nate shouted through the wall in a panic, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sophie promised from the other side as she pressed herself right up tight to the stones that were separating her from the mastermind, "How about you?"

"Could be better," Nate answered honestly as he started looking for a way out of their current situation, "How are things looking on your end?"

"No way out," Sophie announced bitterly, "Which means the same for you too, huh?"

"Looks that way," Nate grimaced at the news.

It was a rock slide. The details aren't as important as the fact that Parker had to use explosives in order for the con to work. Unfortunately, the mastermind and grifter were forced into a situation that put them at the heart of it. The others were still working on their respective parts of the con so they wouldn't be coming by anytime soon.

"Listen, Soph," Nate commanded with a quick lick of his lips, "You're going to have to go get the others to get me out of this mess."

"Nice try," Sophie laughed at the idea, "but you and I both know that those beams up there aren't going to be able to support the added weight caused by the explosion. If I leave, I won't be able to get back in and you don't have your com in because you decided to push me out of the way!"

"You're alive, aren't you?" Nate grumbled in response.

"I can take care of myself," Sophie muttered in irritation, "I have been doing it for years!"

"A lot longer than you've known me, I know," Nate growled at the little reminder, "Excuse me if I don't really care about what you think you're capable of."

"I'm not going to argue with you," Sophie concluded with a snarl of her own, "so quit trying to make me leave you."

"Well, if you would just do as I tell you too," Nate hissed at the news.

"When has that ever actually worked?" Sophie pointed out stubbornly.

"You're okay though, right?" Nate questioned quietly as he tried to hide the concern in his voice.

"You made sure of that already, didn't you?" Sophie growled at him with a roll of her eyes, "Who pushes someone out of the way of a rock slide?"

"The guy in love with you," Nate grumbled back in reply, "You're gratitude is so appreciated!"

"Well," Sophie barked back eagerly, "Do something stupid and wonder why you're getting yelled at for it! You didn't need to push me out of the way, Nate!"

"Yes, I did," Nate admitted softly.

"Don't play that white knight crap with me!" Sophie hollered at him angrily, "You're a thief! It's high time you stopped acting like you're anything more!"

"Everything applies differently to you," Nate chuckled at the grifter's anger towards him.

"Don't compliment me when I'm mad at you!" Sophie demanded irritably, "This is all your fault anyway! You shouldn't have made a plan where Parker used explosives in case this happened!"

"Technically," Nate grumbled at the grifter's statement, "I'm not the one who's supposed to be dying in this plan!"

"This is the plan I die in?" Sophie scowled at the news, "I knew there was something off about the way you were so mad at the mark for inviting me to tag along with you!"

"Actually," Nate huffed in annoyance, "This is the plan where you end up in a coma! Hardison dies in this one!"

"Plan M?" Sophie snorted sadly, "I guess it's a good thing you and I were down here instead then, huh? Wait! You have a plan where I end up in a coma?"

"There's also one where I take a bullet for you," Nate grinned at the grifter's change in subject.

"How long?" Sophie questioned in interest at the subject.

"What?" Nate demanded back in confusion.

"How long am I supposed to be in a coma?" Sophie rephrased simply.

"Um," Nate huffed as he tried to figure out the angle of this trap, "Why?"

"Just curious," Sophie admitted in reply, "I mean we're both stuck here and all! Why not have a little fun? So, how long am I supposed to be in a coma?"

"Three months," Nate hissed out reluctantly.

"Three months?" Sophie gasped in anger once again, "You actually have a plan where Hardison dies and I end up in a coma for three months! Goodness, Nate, you're creepy! Three months! Who creates a plan where their girlfriend ends up in a coma for three months?"

"An ass," Nate supplied before the rest of her statement actually filtered through his mind, "Wait a minute, you're my girlfriend?"

"Huh?" Sophie questioned back in surprise.

"You called yourself my girlfriend," Nate pointed out slowly.

"No, I didn't," Sophie blushed as she realized her mistake and acted accordingly.

"Yes, you did," Nate gasped out in surprise, "Sophie…"

"I know," Sophie grumbled out guiltily, "I didn't mean… it just slipped out, okay? I don't think of myself that way…!"

"Why not?" Nate demanded suddenly angry at the way the grifter was acting.

"Well," Sophie thought out loud in shame, "For one thing you don't want a relationship, remember?"

"I hate to break it to you, Soph," Nate sighed at his little mistake, "but that was a blatant lie in hopes of getting out of it while I still could. We're in a relationship no matter what we want to call it!"

"Are you admitting something, Nate?" Sophie mused with a smile obviously forming on her face despite the fact that rocks were blocking the mastermind's view at the moment.

"I think it's safe to say you're my girlfriend now," Nate admitted slowly with a smile of his own.

"Okay then," the grifter smirked in victory of the little statement.

"That means I'm your boyfriend," Nate fueled with amusement clearly in his voice.

"You're still an arse," Sophie fired back simply, "Pushing your girlfriend out of the way of a rock slide just to make certain she doesn't die and all!"

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Nate admitted softly.

"I know," Sophie agreed at the comforting notion.

It took the entirety of the con to dig Nate out of the rock pile but that wasn't exactly unusual for the team to deal with. What was unusual was the fact that he was smiling, conscious and pulling Sophie away after saying thank you to the rest of the team. The grifter and mastermind weren't heard from again for three days and that was only because Hardison and Parker got tired of not having their calls answered. It took the team another week to actually want to see each other again after that. Short version: Nate and Sophie locked the doors and Parker didn't understand the hint.

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4. Blood loss

Nate cradled Sophie close to his chest. The con had gone wrong way too fast to be believed and now he was suffering greatly for it. The mark had pointed the gun his way. He had threatened Nate and cursed for his money to be there right then or he was going to shoot. It was nothing unusual so Nate did what he always did and suggested to the mark that they be civil about it. The mark decided to wave his gun and make certain everybody knew he was going to shoot. Sophie did what she always did and started talking the mark down. They had thought it was working until the mark pointed his gun at Nate again with a wicked fast report that his money needed to be there in five seconds or he was going to kill him. Eliot said he was on his way and asked Sophie to distract the mark while he worked on getting there. Apparently the mark had other plans because Eliot ran into trouble as soon as he suggested coming to the rescue and Parker and Hardison were stuck having to listen to the whole gruesome thing. The mark then started the countdown and Nate closed his eyes because getting shot really did hurt like a bitch! The gun went off and the excruciating pain didn't happen which was way more terrifying than it should have been. Nate had opened his eyes in time to catch the sight of Sophie starting to fall. He caught the grifter and put his jacket on the wound to keep that blood in her and as far away from the ground as possible.

Nate was keeping Sophie as comfortable as possible despite the fact that she kept fading in and out of consciousness. He learned a lot about her when she was awake enough to speak. He learned too much about her in those few moments. It was like she was trying to fill every void of her life he had always wanted to know before she… No, he wasn't going to think that. There was only one thing the mastermind had yet to hear from the bleeding grifter in his arms; the name. That was where he was going to draw the line. He was not going to ask for it and he was sure as hell not going to let her say it. She had already tried a few times but he made certain to cut her off until she eventually went back to the black that kept calling her more and more often as they continued. Hearing her name would give him the closure he needed for her to die and he was not going to let her get away with it! The mastermind pulled the grifter tighter into his arms and refused to let anyone take her away from him. He wasn't going to hear that name. He wasn't going to let her give him the last bit of her she could give. He wasn't going to let her give up. He wasn't going to let her…

"Nate?" Sophie moaned as consciousness seemed to let her back in for the moment.

"I'm still here," Nate promised as he gripped the grifter even tighter than before.

"There's…" Sophie swallowed as she worked to try to get the dry numbness out of her throat so she could talk to him, "There's something I have to tell you!"

"No," Nate denied right on cue, "We're not going there!"

"Nate, please," Sophie begged in desperation.

"No," Nate shook his head with angry tears starting to make their way to his eyes, "We're not doing that, Soph."

"But you…" Sophie struggled against the darkness so she could tell him the truth, "you have to know… know the truth."

"I already know, Soph," Nate promised sternly as he pressed his thoroughly soaked coat even tighter to her still-bleeding wound, "You don't have to say it!"

"You don't…" Sophie stuttered as she worked her way through the unbearable pain in order to get her message across, "You don't know… my nnn-name!"

"No, Soph," Nate begged with a heavy sigh, "I don't want to know it."

"Don't…" Sophie pleaded with those damn tears shedding from her eyes again, "Don't lie."

"When you're all better," Nate ordered in hopes of getting her just mad enough to stay a little longer, "then you can tell me."

"I'm not…" Sophie gasped as she tried to ignore the suffocating cold developing around her whole body, "I'm dying, Nate!"

"Don't say that," Nate demanded with a sad groan, "Don't think like that, Soph! You're going to be fine, okay? Think of something else instead, okay Soph?"

"Nate, I…!" Sophie gurgled out in a quiet whimper.

"I know," Nate sniffled bravely at the way she was talking to him, "but you have to stay. Okay? You can't just leave. We need you. The team needs you. I need you, Sophie."

"I'm cold," Sophie admitted softly as she started to close her eyes yet again.

"Don't," Nate pleaded desperately as he shook the grifter possessively in hopes of keeping her with him, "Don't you dare leave me, Sophie Devereaux! You can't leave me! I haven't earned your name yet! Don't leave! Please!"

She didn't hear him. She was dead to the world. Unconsciousness had claimed her again and this time it had no intention of relinquishing its clever hold on her. The mastermind continued to try to shake the grifter awake in futility. Eliot barged in through the door moments later and killed the mark with a quick jab of his arm, most likely the mark wasn't dead but it was a close call considering the hitter saw the bleeding grifter before anything else. Nate just picked the grifter up and high-tailed it to the nearest exit and the van as fast as possible. The hitter just followed suit and ordered Parker to prepare the supplies for when they got to the van.

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The grifter opened her eyes to a highly familiar sight. She stared at the ceiling of Nate's apartment groggily as she tried to figure out why every part of her body hurt like the Dickens. Then she recognized a feeling on her hand that she had felt only twice before. She turned her head ever so slightly to the left and noticed the mastermind's head of curly brown hair sprawled on her arm with his hand tightly clinging to her own with possessive necessity.

"Nate?" Sophie rasped out with her highly unused and very dry throat.

"Wha-?" Nate snapped to attention at the tiny noise as he looked directly at the grifter as if heaven decided to grace him with its presence, "Sophie!"

"What happened?" Sophie asked as she tried to remember exactly how she got there.

"You were shot," Nate explained roughly as he tried to get over the fact that she was awake, aware and safe right there in front of him.

"I know that," Sophie pouted at his explanation, "How did we get here?"

"Eliot decided to almost kill the mark after he took care of the goons," Nate smiled at her insistence of getting her question answered, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot," Sophie retorted with a snarl at the smile that was obviously all over the mastermind's face.

"Does it hurt?" Nate questioned immediately after with concern shining in his eyes brightly.

"Do you really have to ask?" Sophie arched a brow ready for combat.

"I need to know if we have to up the dosage," Nate pointed to the bag of drugs pumping their way into the grifter's arm.

"I'm fine," Sophie bit back, her voice much softer than before.

"You're lying," Nate pointed out with a cunning smile as he quickly increased the amount of pain killers going into the grifter's blood stream, "You should really stop doing that, you know."

"I'm a grifter," Sophie reported back simply, "It's what I do."

There was a loaded silence between them in that moment. It said too much and still managed to not say everything it needed to. It was infuriating.

"I'm glad you're okay," Nate admitted in hopes of getting back to normal.

"I know," Sophie nodded at the play but apparently she wasn't ready to give up the field, "I promised you something, didn't I?"

"What do you mean?" Nate asked with mock confusion as he worked very hard on avoiding her eyes because the woman could sense guilt with nothing more than a quick look into his eyes.

"What did I tell you?" Sophie demanded in a worried huff, "I told you something because you're not giving me a lecture about taking an unnecessary risk! What did I tell you, Nate?"

"Everything," Nate replied honestly to the human lie detector, "You told me everything."

"Everything," Sophie repeated bitterly, "I told you everything?"

"Everything," Nate nodded in answer.

"Well," Sophie sighed at the news, always the grifter. "I guess that means you can start calling me by my real name now."

"Nope," Nate smiled at the news despite the little fact, "I can't do that."

"Why not?" Sophie questioned in complete confusion now.

"I wouldn't let you refresh my memory," Nate admitted guiltily, "I don't know your name."

"Why?" Sophie asked in misunderstanding.

"I wouldn't let you," Nate explained casually.

"You're a bastard, you know," Sophie retorted with angry eyes pointing squarely at him.

"So you keep telling me," Nate smiled proudly at the return to normalcy that didn't seem to take back any ground, "Now, about that time when you stole my wallet while I was sleeping and switched it with Hardison's favorite hacking phone."

"I plead the fifth," Sophie beamed at the little statement, "He was so mad at you for stealing that though!"

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5. Love is a Battlefield After All

"You're an insufferable son of a bitch, you know that!" Sophie growled at the mastermind in exasperation.

"And you're a bitch!" Nate retorted back angrily at the way she was acting.

They were fighting, no surprise there. The others had ditched out on the scream match when the language started to switch in and out of English. They always split out when that happened. They learned the first time what happens when Nate and Sophie start switching languages in order to hash it out. Even Eliot still had nightmares after watching that one!

"You put the whole team in danger!" Sophie spit out in frustration, "Again!"

"Actually I just put Eliot in danger!" Nate defended himself proudly, "Which is his job, Sophie!"

"What's wrong with you?" Sophie thundered at him with both fists raised in incomprehension.

"I don't know!" Nate shouted in reply as he tried to control the growling frustration completely filling his chest, "Why don't you tell me? Better yet! Why were you kissing the mark?"

"Oh you can't be serious!" Sophie bellowed indignantly at the little dig.

"What?" Nate questioned as he slowly gained the upper-hand in this newest battle of war, "Are we just going to ignore the fact that you frantically made out with the person you were trying to con?"

"That wasn't the first time I did that for the sake of a con and you know it!" Sophie hissed as she tried to work her way around the situation in order to regain the leverage she once had.

"I guess we both know what that makes you then!" Nate voiced as coldly as possible in hopes of really sending this woman up the wall.

She slapped him for that one. Then she decided to slap him again. She slapped him a few more times just for good measure too. He slapped her back because he was just that angry. They stared at each other in shock of that! Her face scrunched up in heavy anger and her hand reverberated off his face with even more force than before. He slapped her back again because honestly he was starting to lose feeling in his jaw from the way she was whacking him. They continued on like that for a few more rounds before they both were just staring at each other in angry frustration that they wouldn't stop.

Sophie caught her breath first and swung her hand at her target with sick determination in her every move. Nate caught the offending hand without ever taking his eyes away from hers. She struggled against him at the fact that he had finally decided to end their little squabble. She was sick of this. She didn't want to hate him as much as she loved him. It was unbearable. She just wanted to stab him to death until he finally admitted everything and just let them be more than a frustrated couple of morons.

Nate just glared at the pitiful attempts of gaining steady ground. He hated this woman. He wanted to kill her! He wanted to do to her what their team did to their victims and more! He wanted her to admit defeat just once and not have to have the higher ground every five seconds. He loved her. That was his main problem. Too much time hanging out with temptation had made him weak when it came to facing it, facing her. This was all her fault anyway. She kissed the mark even though Parker and Hardison were barely even in trouble. Alright, so she was right in making out with that bastard for the sake of saving them but did she have to be right all the time?

The grifter seemed to have remembered her other hand in that moment because it was suddenly whipping its way through the air towards him. He grabbed it and pulled it down roughly. She glared at him with fiery eyes at the way he was treating her. She even pouted her lips out at the fact that her plan of smacking him to death was ruined. He had to bite back the laugh that wanted to penetrate through his lips at that. Even when he wanted to strangle her to death, Sophie Devereaux could still make Nathan Ford melt like a fool with just a simple pout of her lips. She struggled a little bit harder at the hands on her wrists which meant he did not do such a fabulous job of holding back that giggle. He was in trouble. She was starting to look like an angel again. He really wanted to kiss her all of a sudden.

"Let go, you arse!" Sophie spit out as she struggled even more against his tight grip.

"I think it's safest just to keep hanging on," Nate grumbled because he didn't want to admit she was winning quite yet.

"Nate, let go!" Sophie ordered stubbornly as she pulled uselessly at her arms, "You're hurting me! Let go!"

"No!" Nate bit back as that frustration started becoming something else that was really driving him crazy because this woman was able to do this to him all the frickin time.

Sophie huffed at him in impatience and pulled a little more at her wrists. She was struggling to get away from him and stared him down as much as possible. Nate swallowed a little at the glare because her lips were really pouting now and he was very positive she was not yet aware of how she was affecting him in this moment. No, he was still mad at her and she was not going to win! He was not going to give her the satisfaction of winning. He was not going to let her get away with pouting her lips and looking adorable while she was trying to escape his grasp. He was just going to ignore the spark in her eyes and the slight crinkle at the top of her nose and the way her forehead crinkled only at the hairline for some strange reason while she was sticking out her lower lip and looking for all the world like a beaten puppy you can't help but find absolutely adorable.

_Screw it,_ Nate thought as he drove in after her lips with no hesitation of the consequences. Sophie just gasped at the contact. Her wrists were free but she wasn't overly concerned with that now. His lips were on hers and she loved it despite herself. She didn't want anything but his lips right now.

"Whoa!" Hardison hollered from somewhere near the door.

"The Hell?" Eliot quipped from somewhere near the hacker as the distinctive sound of the door slamming filled the room.

Parker just screamed and quickly covered her eyes right before she jumped behind the hitter and pulled the hacker with her.

Sophie and Nate jumped apart with blushes on their faces at being caught making out like a couple of teenagers. Nate just stood in the middle of the room with an embarrassed grin on his face. Sophie worked her way around the kitchen in hopes of finding a distraction that indicated she was not associated with the mastermind at all. The other three just stared in shock of what they witnessed. Not true, Eliot stared with a growing scowl towards the mastermind. Hardison stared with the look of pure horror all over his face. Parker was still cowering behind the hitter making gagging noises.

"Umm," Hardison began hesitantly with wide brimmed eyes.

"What the Hell were you doing?" Eliot shouted at the mastermind in a very brotherly tone, "Why the Hell were you kissing Sophie?"

"Umm," Nate stuttered out in explanation.

"Ewe," Parker huffed out angrily, "My eyes! They were using tongue!"

"What exactly are you doing back?" Sophie shot back right on cue to the amazement of everybody even though she had absolutely no composure despite the fact that she was the best grifter ever, "You all checked out when we were arguing!"

"We came back to make certain you both were alive!" Eliot shouted at the grifter angrily, "Now, why the Hell was he kissing you?"

"My eyes!" Parker complained from behind, "It was like they were glued together!"

"I guess we didn't realize you two were into that kind of fighting thing," Hardison gushed out in information overload, "Or you just were… Oh my God!"

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Eliot demanded of the mastermind earnestly, "I'm not saving your ass anymore! She can kill you all she wants now!"

Nate pointed to the grifter accusingly. He was shaking in nervousness and his cheeks were steadily going from beat red to violent purple. "She was pouting her lips," he stammered in reply.

"I don't pout my lips," Sophie snarled ready as always for a fight. She had her hand over her chest and looked quite affronted at the accusation. How could she possibly have been at fault? He was the one who kissed her.

"You're really going to argue with me again?" Nate demanded of the grifter in confusion, "What the Hell is wrong with you?"

"Says the man who was trading blows with me one minute and then started kissing me the next," Sophie spat out deliberately.

"Seriously?" Hardison demanded of the two in confusion.

"Even I know there's something wrong with you two," Parker hissed as she came to the hacker's side to glare at them, "And you both are going to pay for ruining my eyes." She had her serious pointing finger glaring at them to prove her point.

"I'm going to kill you," Eliot stated simply.

"Not before I do!" Sophie reported with venom.

"I think that was directed at both of you!" Hardison sighed in confusion.

"This is sad," Parker delivered her opinion of the day.

"You kissed the mark!" Nate spat out in deflation, "How am I the one who is getting in trouble for this?"

"I do it all the time," Sophie spitefully replied back as she found the winning phrase she was searching for earlier, "remember?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Nate shouted in regret of the statement.

"Oh god!" Eliot rolled his eyes at the pair, "Just pick a state and keep it away from us!"

"It's getting funny again," Parker whispered to the hacker with enthusiasm, "Let's watch!"

"I don't see how else you could mean it!" Sophie reported ferociously, "I don't even get why you find it so alarming anyway. You never used to hate it whenever I kissed a mark as a distraction. I wonder what changed!"

"I love you, you idiot!" Nate accidentally let slip into the air before he could even squash the force of the statement. His eyes grew a little bit wider at the announcement and his mouth slammed together to form a very tight line.

"What?" Hardison squeaked out in shock of the little statement. His eyes were now bugging out to the size of saucers.

"Did he just…?" Eliot demanded to frantic nods from the hacker at the newest revelation.

"I'm scared," Parker admitted softly at the way everything was happening around her.

Sophie was trying her hardest to digest the new information presented before her. Her fingers were twitching and her eyes were rolling trying to calculate the meaning of the words. She seemed to be getting nothing though because she shrugged her shoulders and gasped, "You what?"

"I…" Nate hesitated as he thought about several reasons why he should take those three words back right now; he decided on something completely different, "You're an idiot!"

"That's not what you said!" Parker hissed at the mastermind in surprise, "Well, you did call her an idiot but you told her you love her too!"

"Parker," Eliot sighed as he realized exactly what the mastermind just did, "I think that's why he just said he called her an idiot."

"So I would repeat what he said so Sophie would know she's not the only one to have heard it?" Parker demanded before that little light-bulb went off in her head, "Oh!"

Sophie started laughing. She was literally giggling wildly in front of everybody. She continued to stare at the mastermind and giggle. Sophie Devereaux, composed grifter extraordinaire, was giggling like a little schoolgirl in front of everybody. She suddenly stopped and with a dead serious frown said, "No!"

"What?" Parker crinkled her nose in confusion.

"I think she's in shock," Hardison guessed after that one.

"No," Nate stared at the grifter in confusion, "What do you mean no?"

"You don't love me," Sophie stated simply, "You can't!"

"What?" Parker shouted in surprise. She was thoroughly confused now.

"He doesn't love me!" Sophie reported to the group at large, "You can't love me, Nate!"

"Why the Hell not?" Eliot bellowed completely thrown by the grifter's reaction yet again.

"I'm telling you," Hardison suggested boldly, "She's in shock!"

"He can't really love me!" Sophie rolled her eyes at the three as if they were simple-minded children who weren't getting the lesson she was trying to teach.

"And why not?" Nate asked in interest of the logic here.

"Because the only possible way for you to love me is if I conned you into it," Sophie stated simply, "And I haven't been conning you into falling in love with me!"

"Seriously?" Parker growled out in anger now, "That's why he can't love you? Because you didn't con him into it? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"And she's the girl who believes Orange soda and cereal are a healthy breakfast!" Eliot established the thief's credentials with a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hardison demanded of the hitter with thunderous indignation at the insult to his thief.

"That Sophie's wrong," Eliot reported with a sigh, "That wasn't an insult towards Parker!'

"It certainly sounded like it, man," Hardison growled out defensively.

"Hey!" Nate shouted when it looked like the hitter was about to say something more on the subject, "Kind of busy here!"

"Don't listen to him," Sophie snapped up the order angrily, "He's just confused."

"Confused?" Nate snarled at the grifter's reaction, "Sophie, I love you! I! Love! You! How are you not getting this?"

"You love me?" Sophie demanded with absurd patience in her voice.

"Yes," Nate growled out in incomprehension of what was so confusing about this.

"why?" Sophie asked in confusion.

"What?" Eliot hollered at the grifter.

"Why do you love me, Nate?" Sophie questioned the mastermind pointedly ignoring the hitter.

"The Hell if I know," Nate reported back in response, "You're a grifter who lies for a living. I'm not even sure if anything you have ever told me has even come close to being the truth! I just know that despite every damn thing in the world I can't help but despise you above all others and want you more than any other person at the same time!"

"That's…" Sophie stuttered at the abruptly honest response, "That's a new one!"

"And furthermore," Nate continued apparently on a roll all of a sudden, "You're also one of the smartest, kindest, sexiest, most unpredictable, highly stubborn, infuriatingly good natured women I have ever known and you're a grifter! I don't know why but I love you for it!"

"You love me?" Sophie repeated still in shock.

"I love you," Nate confirmed as his eyes softened at the vulnerability he saw in his grifter's eyes.

"But I'm not…" Sophie began to argue before she was interrupted.

"If you say you're not good enough for me, I swear I cannot be held accountable for my actions!" Nate hollered at the grifter in warning.

"If anything you're way better," Parker whispered to the grifter with a smile before she noticed the glares she was receiving from the hacker and hitter, "What? You were thinking it too!"

"No complaints from me," Nate smiled at the thief's comment merrily.

"You are an arrogant bastard," Sophie accused as loudly as she could possibly muster, "You are rude! You're a jerk to everybody around you! You're a drunk and a thief and an egotistical maniac!"

"Yep," Eliot agreed with a nod.

"Bout sums it all up," Hardison nodded along with a quick fist bump with the blonde thief on his right. Parker returned the fist bump while nodding her head frantically in agreement.

"And you're obsessed with trying to make up for the death of your son even though it isn't your fault," Sophie continued as if she had never been interrupted in the first place, "Don't you dare deny it!"

"Wasn't gonna," Nate smiled even wider at where he knew this conversation was going.

"And despite every blasted thing that has ever happened to you," Sophie finished off with a flourish of her arms in disbelief, "You still have a hero complex that shoots through the roof!"

"Wasn't expecting that one," Nate admitted in acceptance of the grifter's words.

"You're a horrible human being," Sophie added on just for good measure, "but you have a kind heart and you care for your family like no other!"

"Oh just tell him the truth already!" Parker demanded in excited anticipation.

"Parker!" Hardison and Eliot shouted at the thief with twin eye rolls.

Parker threw up her hands in frustration. "What?"

"I love you too, you arrogant son of a bitch!" Sophie exclaimed towards the mastermind with a huff and a stomp of her foot.

"Okay then," Nate practically beamed at the news, "Glad that's settled!"

"You bet your arse you are!" Sophie thundered towards him before she gave him a quick peck on the lips and fled the scene with a slam of the door as an exclamation point.

"What the-?" Hardison gasped out in horror of the display.

"Bunch of crazies…" Eliot grumbled as he rolled his eyes for the hundredth time that day and moved to the kitchen to make some dinner.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me," Nate explained as he literally bounced up the steps whistling the entire way up.

"Well," Parker sighed when nobody else decided to comment further, "That was fun! We should do that again sometime!"

The thief was met with twin growls of frustration and unhappiness at the very idea.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

6. Nate and Guns, Nuff Said

"Sophie…" Nate groaned at the pressure in his shoulder. Why did he always get shot in the shoulder?

"Don't you dare!" Sophie pointed a finger roughly in his face. He felt the light breeze she was creating while she was shaking it. "We're not having this discussion!"

"That sounds familiar," Nate chuckled. He really had no right to be chuckling. Sophie's dress was smeared with his blood. It had once been white with lace and felt like silk. Now it just had a streak of red soaking into its thick skirt. The corset top she chose wasn't white anymore either. His shoulder was still bleeding on it after all. The only good news was the fact that it wasn't Sophie's blood.

"Of all the times you decided to get shot," Sophie muttered with tears cascading down her face. She had chosen to keep her hair long and only put the front half up. Her curls were loose the way he liked it and she had a fancy clip in her hair that kept the veil out of her face. She still looked beautiful even if he ruined her wedding dress. "Why did you have to pick now?"

"He was aiming the gun at you," Nate pointed out stubbornly. He wasn't exactly going to deny that he chose to get shot. It was kind of difficult to argue when you're the one who jumped in front of your almost wife. "I think I deserve a reprieve of argument for that alone."

"Oh I haven't even begun to yell at you!" Sophie sneered. She was still mad about the whole Ian Blackpoole is threatening to shoot me at our wedding thing. He probably wouldn't be living that down anytime soon. He was kind of okay with that. "You don't jump in front of a bullet meant for another thief, Nate! It's bad for business!"

"Husband protecting wife clause!" Nate argued back. He was smiling. He really couldn't help it. Sure he was in pain and his ex-boss was still fighting with Eliot, but he was happy. He knew how to take the win.

"Only counts if the couple is actually married, Nate!" Sophie fired back. She was starting to worry about him. He could tell because her eyebrows were doing their best to make a V on her forehead. He really wanted to smooth it away and admire her earrings. At his current angle he was finally able to figure out that they were two Pearls hooked together by a silver string. He liked them.

"Fiancé jumping in front of fiancé at wedding is covered under the clause," Nate smiled wider at her need to argue. He was probably never going to get tired of it. Their little war was almost over too. Now they were going to have to plan another day to get married. Oh well, maybe Maggie would actually be able to make to the next one.

"Why do you always have to be right?" Sophie demanded with a shrill cry of pain. She was really worried apparently.

"I'm not dying, Soph," Nate answered honestly. He knew what dying felt like. He had almost done it a million times. This was a walk in the park, just another shot in the shoulder. Why did he always get shot in his left shoulder? "I'm going to be fine. Besides, you're the one who's always right."

"Shut up," Sophie ordered briskly. Her tears weren't stopping anytime soon and she wouldn't let him wipe them away. "You're not supposed to get shot on your wedding day. It's bad luck!"

"I'm fine," Nate scowled at her comment. Leave it to her to jump to the worst possible conclusion at the drop of a hat. "I'd actually stand if I wasn't afraid that bastard would try to shoot you again."

"Parker brought her Taser," Sophie sort of giggled at that. She was an emotional wreck and he was so going to kill Blackpoole for this later. Right now he had to comfort his almost wife.

"And I'm sure Hardison isn't currently spicing up his records so he is a convicted killer in need of another visit to the psyche ward," Nate grumbled. "I'm not dying and screw bad luck! We're going to cheat and get hitched on our honeymoon. I told you we should have just eloped after canceling our wedding for the third time!"

"I've never had a real one before!" Sophie's eyes narrowed again. She looked like she now couldn't decide between kissing him or killing him. She was almost back to normal then. That's good.

"Well, I'm counting this one," Nate smiled at her admission. "I'm sick of getting shot in the shoulder! By the way, why couldn't you have started that tradition somewhere other than my shoulder? I've only been shot in the middle twice and that was a rebound."

"Is now really the best time to be having this discussion?" Sophie scowled at the man. Alright, mission accomplished. "Nate, you're bleeding out on our wedding day because your bastard of an ex-boss decided killing your son wasn't enough. And you want to talk about me shooting you in the shoulder?"

"Fine," Nate sighed dramatically. He could hear sirens in the background now. That was going to be fun to explain. "But we're only staying in the hospital long enough to sew me up and then we're going to Tahiti! I'm not spending another night in a hospital when I could get perfectly good nursing from you in a bed in Tahiti!"

"We're going to Paris!" Sophie frowned with worry again.

"And then to Rome and then to Dubai and then to Dublin, I know." He sighed at her worry, "I'm just messing with you."

"We could maybe go to Tahiti."

%

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…." Eliot just kept talking and Nate tuned him out. Sophie was standing beside him on the cliffs of Ireland with a wide smile on her face. Hardison was off in the general direction of the best man area doing his best to keep Parker from jumping off of it. Maggie and Tara were busy taking pictures and making bets with the others, interrupting Eliot whenever possible just to see what kind of growl he would come up with next. Finally they got to the good part.

"You may now... ugh, Nate wait five damn seconds! You may now kiss the bride!"

"No tongue!" Hardison ordered with a scandalized face.

"And you have to actually breathe this time!" Apparently Parker still didn't believe they could breathe while they were making out, okay!

"Aww!" That one was Maggie, "That's adorable!"

"Now kiss her like you mean it!" Tara ordered, bold as ever.

Nate just kindly told them all he thought they were number one while he gave his wife a kiss. He was proud to note Sophie's tongue in his mouth was a sign of her sticking it to them as well. Looks like they figured out how to win the war after all.


End file.
